In what some are calling an “end of an era”, and the site’s proprietors a non-noticeable change, The Pirate Bay has eschewed torrents for good in favor of magnet links.

TPB first announced its intent to transition to magnet files this past January.

With a magnet links users would download the torrent tracker file from other users instead of a central server, saving TPB space and bandwidth while plausibly limiting their liability.

“Today marks the end of an era,” TPB said in a blog post. “TPB will no longer give out links to .torrent files. The reason is simple: They’re just a waste of space and our time. Instead we’re giving you Magnet links. It’s simpler for us and no more hassle for you. It’s more resilient than .torrent files and it uses much less bandwidth for those who wants to mirror. Also, since the magnet links are just a hash, it’s on every single torrent detail page – so noone [sic] knows that you actually downloaded a file or not.”

In an interview with TorrentFreak, TPB team explained how minute the change would be.

“Just click the red button instead of the green one and all will be fine.”